I decided that for 2009, I would do a post dedicated to each of my siblings on their birthday. Today is my youngest sister, Karen’s, birthday. She is turning the ripe age of 20. She has been married to Jake Hymas for 1 1/2 years and has a daughter, Jordin, who is 9 months old.

I remember coming home from a friend’s house one afternoon and my brother, Brian, ran to me and told me that mom had her baby. I was excited to have a baby around. As she became a toddler, my friends and I would play house all the time and she’d be our baby. She followed us everywhere and we thought it was so fun! We always made fun of her “plumpness” but she was just so cute! I liked to choose her outfits.

Some other memories that aren’t often shared:

• She had the chickenpox when she was maybe 3 and I thought it would be funny to connect the dots all over her body with a permanent marker. HAHAHA. Mom wasn’t thrilled, but it still makes me laugh.
• I and my other two younger siblings would always fight over who she got to tag along with at family functions. 
• I remember she would giggle like crazy. Always smiled. Super easygoing. Didn’t need the spotlight. You could persuade her to anything you wanted her to, and we did. Extremely shy around people outside the family. Embarrassed easily, but would just giggle it off.
• She was in a choir when she was maybe 7 and I was impressed with how well she sang.
• We went to Hawaii as a family when I was 16 and she was 9.  My little brother and I made up a song for her sung to the tune of “Popcorn Popping”…”I looked out the window and what did I see? Karen falling off the balcony. I looked up and to my surprise, Karen was falling right before my eyes. I can see an arm there and foot there, too. And there is her head stuck up in a tree. It was really so, and it seemed to me, Karen could not defy gravity.” Wow. That’s bad!! And I can’t believe I still remember it!
• I shared a room with her for a few months when I was 19 and she was 12. She was on the top bunk and every night I would beg and kick the bottom of her mattress until she would sing me “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” to sleep. I did it partly because I could and it was funny. But partly cause I just liked to hear her sing.
• Rob and I took her and Rob’s sister to Las Vegas about 5 years ago. We went shopping and we were pointing at different clothing items we liked. Finally, at one store, I pointed to a sweater I thought was really cute and classy and she said, “Julie, you have such a MOM style.” I was so offended, especially since I was only 23 and wasn’t even a mom. That phrase STILL haunts me every time I go shopping…it echoes in my mind…

Some other notable things about Karen now:

• She is still very easy going. No drama, no stress. It’s such a relief!
• She is an animal lover! She’d be weird cat woman if she could. Just kidding. But she does love cats and dogs and is SO sad she can’t have a pet right now.
• She and her husband are so easy to take pictures of because they have great chemistry, aren’t afraid to show affection, give great looks to the camera, and are FUN!
• She’s a great mom. Her daughter gets lots of affection and all the cutest clothes and accessories a girl could ask for.
• She the BEST youngest sister an older sister could ask for.

Happy Birthday, Karen!! I love you!!